Written by By Staff Writer
On Friday, Sicilian tailor Federico Alba took to Twitter for a highly unusual act of kindness: he announced that he’d acquired the rights to see if he could hack it as a golf coach.
The next day he posted a nine-hole par-three course inspired by this year’s Tiger Woods round at Sawgrass, Florida’s prestigious Honda Classic, and started tweeting his views on the task ahead.
Inspired by the opportunities @TigerWoods provided for himself and others, I’m today taking on the challenge of teaching a beginner how to play.https://t.co/ZLwrv73JpW — Federico Alba (@federicalafebna) October 4, 2017
The week-long attempt “didn’t go smoothly,” the tailor wrote. “On this first day I suffered from a bit of fear.” But, he added, “all this’s made me much more appreciative of the place where I live.”
This Italian tailor tried to master the golf game by training his brain. Vito Sport
Born in Asti, southern Italy, the 72-year-old is well known in Italy as an internationally renowned tailor and art collector. In the summer of 2015, Alba graced the cover of Vogue Italia under the headline “The Tailor. The new gentleman.”
But four years earlier, the story behind the tailor’s upcoming single might not have been quite so inspiring.
Arrested for unpaid labor
A celebrity in the fashion world, Alba was arrested by the same Sicilian police that have recently signed celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio up to promote tourism.
Federico Alba
In 2013, Italy’s art institute, the Sartorialist, uncovered what the senator representing Sicily’s Ay, Servetta district, Luigi Achille, called a “pampered life”: Alba owes over €1 million (about $1.12 million) in back taxes.
As recently as October 2015, the tailor made headlines in the Italian press again after filing a criminal complaint claiming copyright infringement over a shoe design made by a local fashion brand.
Alba’s amateur attempt at teaching the art of golf. Vito Sport
Alba, who grew up above a fish shop, has an impressive wardrobe, spanning a lifetime’s worth of success. The testimony of such an accomplished wearer might give the sketchpad-wielding may the confidence to finally tackle the golfing business.